smitten

The last thing I got to see on my Isle of Skye trip was Eileen Donan castle. Now don't get all confused - it's not actually on Isle of Skye. But we stopped at it on our way home and I was in heaven. 
When I first found out I would be going to Scotland on exchange I googled pictures of all the pretty things I could see. This is the first thing that came up. I was smitten. Right from the beginning. At that moment I was ready to hop on a plane and head straight to the castle nestled behind the plants, perched out into a loch. Now that I mention it, I am still happy to hop right back on a plane and back to Scotland. Too bad that's not in the cards right now..and by that I mean I have run out of money. 

No wonder this is one of the most photographed places in Scotland. I-can't-get-enough. xo

isle of skye pt.2

The second leg of my Isle of Skye trip was my favourite part! The weather worked out perfectly allowing us to spend more time off of the bus wandering the bright green landscape. We headed out to Neist Point, the most westerly point of Isle of Skye. It was absolutely beautiful. There was the cutest little yellow and white lighthouse on the tip of the point that made the whole scene even prettier. We also got to hangout with some pretty cool highland cattle. How could you not love these things? 

The Neist Point was by far one of the most beautiful places I saw on my entire time in Europe. xo

for a good time not for a long time

I am home from my 5 month adventure in Europe! It is crazy to think that it is all over. How has it already come to this? Didn't I just get there? Even though I have only been back for 2 days I have fallen right back into my life here at home (minus now wanting to talk about travels all the time and constantly thinking about my girls from Scotland). 
At this current moment in time I am battling jetlag. It is harder then I thought it would be. I just want to go to sleep all-of-the-time. This makes going back to work a little but harder (which I did today and was less painful then it could have been). 
As I sort through the endless amount of photos I took over the past few weeks I am going to leave you with some photos from our last infamous international wednesday. 

P.S. I kinda sort of really miss Scotland. 

an attempt at catching up

I realize that it has been forever since I have posted on here. Apparently updating while traveling this time around has been even more sparse then the last. But I have been having the most amazing time, so I'm forgiven right?
I am currently in Florence, Italy and headed to Rome tomorrow morning. This will be the last city stop on my European adventure and then it is back on a plane to the homeland (aka Canada, just to keep everyone in the loop).
Over the past couple weeks I travelled to Munich, Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, and Venice the whole trip has been amazing and I will be posting photos and talking more about each city when I get back.
For right now I am going to enjoy the rest of my time in italy by eating as much gelato as humanly possible. Oh pasta and pizza too of course. xo

the beginning of my final travel adventure

My second Eurotrip is in full swing. I met up with Mel a few days ago and we have spent the first little while exploring London. As I have mentioned before I absolutely love this city. I love the vibe, the sights, the accents, and the history. I took her around to a few things that I had done the last time I was here (Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey) and we did a bunch of things I hadn't gotten to do yet (Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Tower of London). My favorite was the Tower Bridge, aka the one that stars in the spice girls movie. I have been wanting to see the bridge since I saw the movie (aka when I was about 8) and I can now finally check that off the list.
We met up with Sarah a couple days later and spent a bunch of time in Hyde Park enjoying the fantastic weather and catching up on each others lives. It has been so great to finally see these girls after so long. It is always nice to know that you can fall right back into a friendship after being apart.
our next destination was Munich which I was very excited to revisit after how much fun I had last time. I was read to hold that litre mug and eat a pretzel. xo

the next adventure

I am leaving early tomorrow morning for my next European adventure. I am starting in London where I am meeting up with two friends from home (Mel and Sarah). I am excited that I get to go back and revisit some of my favourite sights, and some new ones of course. After that we are off to Munich for a couple days to drink some beer and eat bratwurst. Well that's what I am going to do at least. And then comes the exciting part - Athens, Santorini, Mykonos, Venice, Florence and Rome! before coming on exchange Greece and Italy were my two must-see places so I am excited to finally get around to them. It is going to be a whirlwind 3 weeks but it will be full of tons of memories and amazing places. 
over the course of the 3 weeks I am going to try and update the blog as much as possible (with no pictures unfortunately as I will only have my ipad with me). But keep checking for updates and once I am back home in the lovely Canada I will fill you all in with pictures and more details of my adventure. For now, heres to new places, people, and lessons. xo


I am leaving you with a few pictures from my time in Paris with the family :)

just like in dreams

I went on a solo trip to Isle of Skye in my last couple weeks of being in Scotland. I had heard so much about it and knew that I had to make it all the way up there while I was over here. With it being a somewhat inconvenient place to get to without renting a car (and no way was I doing that) I decided to go with a mini tour. There were 14 of us in total and as much as my parents made fun of me for going on a tour it was definitely the easiest way to see so much of the island. 
The island itself was remarkable. I could not have dreamed up a more perfect place. From the expansive and bright green slopes, to the countless grazing sheep it all seemed unimaginable. Like a place you can only think of in you dreams. BUt it existed, and of all the places I have been so far it was the most breathtaking, eye-catching and overwhelmingly amazing. Here are a few photos from our first day on the island. They barely do it justice.